Originally Posted By danyoung If you're referring to the valet thing, then yes, if you've been tipping at dropoff you've been tipping needlessly. It's neither expected nor required. But then what enterprising young man is going to say no to a buck or two in the hand?
Originally Posted By Indigo The number one reason to tip at dropoff. They decide where to park your car. They could park it in a tight spot where you're more likely to get a ding, or park it up close where it will be ready for a quick retrieval. Plus the dropoff person is not likely to be the same as the pick up. So I'll usually split the tip. If they're polite on the drop off I give'em $3, if they're just standard service $2. On the pick up, also $2, but $3 for great service. As someone who has worked baggage handler and valet, let me tell you that all hospitality workers appreciate a little thanks for their effort.
Originally Posted By danyoung More power to you for wanting to be nice, but neither the industry as a whole nor the parker himself expect or demand it.
Originally Posted By DVC_dad Maybe not, but I don't get a "no thanks, I only accept tips when I retreive."
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 ^^Of course not, who is ever going to turn down free money? The problem is when ignorance becomes the norm, so that it IS expected.
Originally Posted By Inspector 57 <<They read my review and said my concerns were totally valid and the service was unacceptable. That's all I really wanted, so yay Disney.>> "YAY, Disney", for ACKNOWLEDGING that you spent the equivalent of $120 for a meal and had TOTALLY UNACCEPTABLE service?! "Yeah, we messed up. You dropped a wad to have a relaxed, fine dining experience at one of our flagship restaurants, but we totally didn't provide you with that experience. Thanks so much for letting us know. Have a Disney day!" Grrrrrrrrrrrr....
Originally Posted By Kennesaw Tom I want to try the Coral Reef restaurant on my next trip. How is it?
Originally Posted By danyoung I've eaten there many times over the years, and have never had anything even close to a bad experience. Always great food, always great service, in an atmosphere that's totally unique. Go for it!
Originally Posted By Chedstro I've only eaten there once; but the kids (adults) and I had a great experience. The food, service and ambiance were all wonderful. We rated it second best to our favorite, Boma.
Originally Posted By junglejoy We ate there in September and I don't know if it was during free dining, but the service was less than acceptable. The restaurant itself is very cool - eating in front of an aquarium - but the prices, quality and service were (dare I say this) awful. We had been looking forward to this all day and if it hadn't been for the fact of getting out of the heat to eat there, it would have been a complete bomb. Even the kids didn't like their food. It was very poor quality food, very expensive food - just a bad experience (except for the air conditioning). If you get the meal with Disney Dining, go for it, but if you're paying out of pocket go just about anyplace else. It's no where worth what you pay and they really should pay you to go there. When we sat down we weren't even given menus and the waitress came and asked for our orders. She never brought us menus. We asked the table next to us if we could look at theirs when they were done! The waitress finally came back and wanted us to order everything at once. I just figured it was restaurant policy and went along with it, but worried we would get our salad and entree at the same time. Yep. We did! And not once did she clear dishes. Our desserts came and we just kept piling dishes on top of dishes. We saw our waitress three times total. To take our order when we sat down, to actually take our order when we had seen a menu that we borrowed from another table and then to bring us the check. The food was poor quality too. Stale fish - just plain blah. But it's a fun place to see. We did enjoy seeing the divers in the tank too. They waved to us! But if you want decent food, don't go. Maybe just go for drinks or something. PS - We love Boma too! YUM!!!!! It's such a pretty restaurant too.
Originally Posted By Spirit of 74 Junglejoy, it sounds like you had a miserable experience and that's a shame. I've dined there dozens of times since it opened in 1986 and I never have had a bad meal there. One back in 1998 when they had just redone the resturant (and the menu) was just mediocre, but everything else has been good to outstanding. That goes for the service as well. And that even goes for a meal I had this fall during the free dining offer. My biggest complaint, and only one really, with Coral Reef is the vastly dumbed down menu that features very little seafood of substance. No lobster? One shrimp entree? But all I would say is if I had experienced what you did, I would have asked to speak to the restaurant GM and I wouldn't have paid for the meal. Period. Did you bring your issues to anyone's attention? Did you speak to a manager? I would never resort to asking another diner for a menu without talking to someone. I would never sit and have dishes pile up on the table. It sounds to me like you should be speaking to the GM of the Coral Reef and the Head of Epcot Food and Beverage (it used to be Norm Noble, I'm not sure if it still is).
Originally Posted By KCCHIEF We just got back from our first trip to Disneyworld........it was beautiful...but we had 2 dining experiences that were not good....the 50's cafe....our waitress did none of the teasing that I had read about in the books before we went and the food was blah........but the our experience at the Coral Reef was really something else......someone else's food was brought to our table 2 times before the correct order was brought out.......we waited over an hour for our food and when my prime rib was finally brought out......it was so tough that I could not cut it ........I won't go there again........but the Crystal Palace was so good and the Rainforest Cafe made up for the other 2 "not so good" restaurants.
Originally Posted By Chelledun junglejoy, your experience sounds so much like mine it was scary. Did you have a middle-aged blond waitress, by any chance?
Originally Posted By junglejoy Chelledun, I don't remember what she looked like. She was middle-aged, but the hair - I only saw her three times. I'm sorry you went through that too. I did notice when I took my 4 yr old to the bathroom during the meal that there was a group of three waiters chatting but couldn't tell if one of them was ours. Seems like they're very social at the Coral Reef and not so in to service? Spirit, we didn't say or do anything at the time. We were all hot and tired and were kind of in shock this had really happened. It seemed unreal. I should have written a letter when I got home, but then I would have had to write about our room (Contemporary, we checked out Oct 1, the last day before the refurb). It just seemed better to let it go and not focus on the negative. I don't want to be a complainer. It was our first trip, a huge deal to us, we'd saved for three years to go. And one meal and our room didn't ruin it for us, just disappointed and shocked us. We will go again, but we will spend less time/$$$ on the sit-down restaurants (we're real foodies when we're on vacation but have to be careful the rest of the time so we don't live unhealthily). We'll also try a different resort although loved the location of the Contemporary, it just wasn't worth the $$$ and not as nice or clean as the Grand Calif or the Disneyland Hotel which we have paid much less to stay at.
Originally Posted By Labuda Chelle - I have to ask, based on your description of your Coral Reef server - was her name Sandy? As for me, myself, and I= - as well as my husband, we had a great time at Coral Reef during the free dining. We had a wonderful server, and the food was good, AND they still had my husband's cell hone a couple of hours later when we were trying to find it when we got back to the room and didn't have it! lol Serioously, though, I enjoyed my meal there - and I HATE fish, and have an irrational fear of a certain type of fish that you can see in the tank that we were seated about 6' away from. *shudder*
Originally Posted By danyoung I'm really very sorry that some have had bad experiences at the Coral Reef, a place that has been dang near perfect for me over the years. My experiences are the same as my friend the Spirit of 74. It saddens me that a bad meal is now a possibility at one of my favorite restaurants on the planet. Here's hoping that they get their stuff together and keep these incidents isolated to non-existant.
